Humans come into contact with harmful contaminants in many ways. We may: eat food that carries toxin residues touch contaminated soils absorb radiation or chemical vapors through our skin drink polluted water inhale gases and particulates as we breathe Determining how much exposure of a contaminant is safe is a multi step process that involves…
Energy Types Energy sources are classified as either renewable or non-renewable A renewable energy resource is one that can be replaced after use by regrowth, reproduction or replacement within a reasonable time frame (usually one human lifespan). Examples include solar, wind, tidal, thermal and hydroelectric A non-renewable resource is one that cannot be replaced after…
What is Agriculture? Agriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. The development of agricultural techniques is credited for creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated societies with distinct classes Agriculture uses many techniques, to expand the lands suitable for plant raising. For example: Digging water-channels and…
The basics Environmental issues are particularly difficult to solve because often the solutions require sacrifice It is difficult to convince a population of people to trade in quality of life and convenience for the greater environmental good This is evident with North America’s obsession with big cars, SUVs and Trucks When considering an environmental issue…
Efficiency Energy efficiency is one area that scientists are focusing on to decrease the worlds overall energy use Energy efficiency in buildings is one of the top priorities in energy conservation There are many different ways that we can make an older building more energy efficient Simple ways to improve a building’s efficiency Insulate and…
Goldilocks Principle Venus is too hot, Mars is too cold but Earth is just right Earth’s average temperature sits between the boiling and freezing temperatures of water. This makes it ideal for life Insulating gas blanket Earth’s “perfect” surface temperature for life is often thought to be because of it’s orbit distance from the Sun.…
There are many different types of Waste Solid Waste Liquid Waste Gaseous Waste Animal by-products Biodegradable waste Biomedical waste Chemical waste Commercial waste Construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) Electronic waste (E-waste) Green waste Grey water Hazardous waste or Toxic Waste Human waste Industrial waste Radioactive waste Recyclable waste Sewage Slaughterhouse waste Wastewater Industrial Waste…
The Air We Breathe Clean dry air is a mixture of 4 main gasses: 78.08% is Nitrogen 20.95% is Oxygen 0.934 is Argon 0.035% is Carbon Dioxide Water vapour, Neon, Helium, Methane, Krypton, Hydrogen, Carbon Monoxide, Xenon, Ozone, Nitrogen Oxides, Sulfur Oxides and Hydrogen Sulfide are found in trace amounts Air Pollution An imbalance in…
Plant History Canada has at least 5000 different plant species. These range from flowering plants, to large trees, to agricultural plants The earliest plant is believed to have evolved 430 million years ago The first land plants were mosses and ferns All land plant life can be traced back to those species. Classification of Plants:…
#1 Climate Change The increase in greenhouse gasses (mainly CO2, CH4, and NOs) due to the burning of fossil fuels is causing a general increase in the average global surface temperature More greenhouse gasses are causing more of the sun’s and earth’s radiation to be trapped in our atmosphere Some areas are expected to experience…
Random change Key factors that can cause evolution: –Small populations are more variable to changes in allele frequencies -non-random mating opportunities result in only those “preferred” traits being passed onto future populations –new alleles may be created when mutations occur (changes the frequencies of new and original alleles) -migration causes changes in the relative abundance…
Introduction Acidic pollutants can be deposited from the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface in wet and dry forms. The common term to describe this process is acid deposition. The term acid precipitation is used to specifically describe wet forms of acid pollution that can be found in rain, sleet, snow, fog, and cloud vapor. An…
Humans are very reliant upon electricity. Think back to the blackout of August 2003 and recall how whole cities were shut down. Since we rely on electricity so much, it’s important to produce as much of it as possible and conserve it whenever we can. All energy sources are either renewable or nonrenewable. A renewable…
– Your home is one large electric circuit that is wired in parallel (multiple electron paths) – Today we’re going to look at how electricity is delivered to your homes. HOW ELECTRICITY FLOWS TO YOU – Electricity flows to every home through high-voltage wires. The wires are either above ground and span over cities in…
– As the human population keeps increasing (it’s over 6 billion people right now), we keep requiring more and more energy. – Using too much energy places stress on our energy production systems and may cause blackouts when we need the energy the most. HOW DO WE USE ELECTRICITY? – In order to conserve (save)…
– All electrical devices have an electric circuit, also known as a path for electrons to flow. – All circuits have at least four parts: An energy source (we’ll be using batteries which are also called “cells”). An electric load (an electrical device used to convert electricity to another form of energy. We’ll be using…
Everything in the universe is either matter or energy. We studied matter in the Chemistry unit; it is everything that we can touch, smell, taste, and see. Energy is the ability to do work and it comes in many different forms. Forms of energy include kinetic energy (energy of movement), light, heat, solar energy (from…
In the mid-1800s there were 64 known elements (today there are over 116 elements). Scientists kept having difficulties organizing the information about the 64 elements. They kept trying to organize them but found no pattern between them. Many chemicals have very similar colors, luster, and conductivity of electricity and heat. Scientists were able to classify…
– In 1817, Jakob Berzelius created an international system to represent all elements with symbols. – We still use his system today (all over the world), which involves elements being represented by one or two letters found in their name. The first letter is always capitalized. If there is a second letter, it is always…
About 100 years ago, scientists came up with a term for the smallest piece of matter: the atom. The word atom comes from the Greek word “atomus” which means “indivisible.” – Since scientists didn’t have very good laboratory equipment over one hundred years ago, they were slightly mistaken about atoms. The atom is the smallest…